Requests to miss an assessment or report a conflict
Who to Contact
- Midterms, quizzes, tests (20%+): BCom Student Affairs Office
- Assessments under 20% or group presentations: Contact your professor directly
- Courses outside Management: Contact your professor directly
Deadlines to Apply
- Unexpected illness or absence: Within 2 working days of the assessment
- Planned absence or conflict: 1 week before the assessment date
Processing Time
- Requests are reviewed during business hours
- If approved, the BCom Student Affairs Office will notify you and your professor of the approval as soon as possible but no later than 2-4 working days following the submission of your request.
- Instructor determines the alternative assessment and will communicate details
- Students with conflicts are contacted before the exam with an alternate schedule or assessment
Important Information
- No medical note required for absences under 5 days
- Documentation may be required for ongoing medical issues
- No individually selected exam times will be granted
- All approved students receive the same type of alternative assessment
- You may not receive a decision before the exam — see Advising Tips below
Accepted Reasons
Health Emergency:
- Serious illness (physical or mental health)
- Serious illness, accident, or death in the immediate family
- Emergency events (fire, crime, etc.)
McGill Sponsored Activities:
- Varsity sports (signed Varsity form required)
- Management/McGill competitions, conferences, or events (documentation required)
Career Activities:
- Job interviews (HR confirmation of date/time/location)
- Recruitment/professional events requiring travel (invitation + itinerary)
Conflicts:
- Three exams in a row in 24 hours
- Conflict with another course or assessment (upload course outline)
- McGill approved religious observances
Not Accepted
- Personal travel (vacations, birthdays, reunions)
- Two exams on the same day
- Misreading the course outline
- Heavy workload or many assessments in a week
- Illness leading up to the exam that reduced preparation time
- Non McGill extracurricular activities
- Part time work schedules
Advising Tips
- Missing major assessments increases workload later; do not use this to manage time
- Delaying an assessment or multiple assessments worth a significant portion of the final grade will add more work later in the term or in the final exam period.
- If unsure whether your reason qualifies, contact an academic advisor in advance
- You must assess your own health before entering the exam room
- If too ill to write, do not write
- Once an exam is started, the grade cannot be removed or reconsidered
Deferred Final Exams
Final examinations are centrally administered by Enrolment Services. Around the beginning of October and the beginning of February, a final examination schedule will be posted on the McGill Exams website. The seating arrangements are posted towards the end of the last week of classes.
Important note: You are advised not to make travel plans prior to the release of the Final Exam Schedule. Vacation plans do not constitute grounds for the deferral or rescheduling of final exams.
Please read the final exam schedule carefully – noting the start and end time of each exam and checking for dates and locations. Requests for missing an exam because of misreading the exam schedule will not be approved.
If you believe you are unable to write your final exam due to a serious health or wellness condition, or another extenuating circumstance such as medical emergencies in immediate family or bereavement, you are eligible to apply for an exam deferral on Minerva: Student Menu>Student Records Menu>Deferred Exam Application.
For requests due to illness, medical documentation is only required for missed assessments over a period of 5 or more days. Documentation may be required for requests for reasons other than illness or for repeat requests for a chronic condition.
Students are warned that they should not attempt to write an exam if they are experiencing symptoms of an illness. Once a student begins the exam, they can no longer request an exam deferral. If they cannot finish the exam or perform less than optimally, the grade for the exam will stand except in cases where emergency medical treatment is required. Documentation is always required for requests to appeal an exam interrupted by unexpected and serious illness.
All deferred exams are written in the next official deferred exam period – March study break for Fall courses and the second or third week of August for Winter term courses.
If you are going on exchange in the Winter term and have to defer an exam, please reach out to an academic advisor for guidance.
Students who have a religious conflict : apply here
Students with an academic exam conflict will be contacted by the Exam office, usually at least three weeks before the exam period begins.
Complete regulations and details are available on the McGill Exams website below.
For summer courses taken in most faculties students apply for deferred exams using Minerva as they do for fall and winter term courses.
However, for BCOM courses offered in the Summer term, students cannot apply using the Deferred Application in Minerva.
All students in summer management courses who need to request a deferred exam should email bcom.mgmt [at] mcgill.ca
Deferred exams for summer course are written in the 2-3 week of August. Please note that there are two schedules for August deferred exams – be sure to consult the correct exam schedule for either the Winter deferred exam schedule OR the summer deferred exam schedule.
Supplemental Exams
Supplemental examinations are not offered in undergraduate courses administered by the Faculty of Management. A student required to improve his/her standing in a course must repeat the course in a subsequent term, completing all course requirements to the satisfaction of the instructor. Faculty policy does not allow students to do additional work to improve their standing in a course.
Exam Rules & Regulations
These regulations pertain to final examinations that are supervised by Enrolment Services.
